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Wow, I hadn't thought of immunizations as being a possible trigger. I wonder if he's gotten a flu vaccine. I'm assuming then that any vaccination can be a trigger?
I called Sean today and I told him everything that you all had written here, and all the wonderful advice you gave, and he was very grateful. I asked him about his symptoms and he said it's really just the rash, some headaches, some mild joint pain but nothing severe enough to be considered Fibromyalgia or anything, and the fact that he is constantly getting sick. He told me that he too has inherited the arthritis and his is mostly in his upper spine right now. He's having a lot of issues right now with his father's side of the family and isn't on speaking terms with anyone other than his father, but I encouraged him to find out if anyone on that side of the family has any autoimmune diseases or any chronic ailments that maybe never were diagnosed or the person died before a diagnosis could be made, you know? He didn't say he wouldn't ask, but then again he didn't say he would either. I urged him to convince his sister to get tested too. She has her own health problems and she is a lot more run down than the average 26 year old. With all the pain that she wakes up with and lives with throughout the day, I suspect she might have Fibromyalgia. But she is more stubborn than a mule, and would probably only listen to Sean. But once he has his formal diagnosis (I'm assuming the blood tests aren't everything they plan to do. I still don't understand why they are sending him to a Dermatologist instead of a Rheumatologist) is made, I suspect that she will go and get tested too just to know for sure. I asked Sean how long he has had the rash and he said a couple of years. A couple of years!!! I'm surprised I never noticed it before! He said he's been suffering the symptoms for about 3 or 4 years now. So he was probably about 18 when this first started going on. I remember vaguely him complaining that he had a red mark on his face some time ago, but apparently it's bigger now. I'm going to email him tomorrow everything that is in these posts, and thank you Mahonri for the link to that liver/gallbladder cleanse. I explained about him trying a more natural diet and cutting out gluten. He didn't even know what gluten was (he doesn't know anyone with that allergy), but I explained what it is. His only complaint was that he loves bread, lol. I told him he can get gluten free breads, he just has to look for them. He said he doesn't like pasta too much. He doesn't eat a lot of fast food either, so that's good. He's into weight lifting and exercising, and I think that's why he isn't as sick as he could be. He's never been much of a pop drinker. He's more of a milk or water drinker. Same with his sister. She's big on tea and juice too.
I told him to try the gluten free diet for a few weeks and see if he feels any better. I hope it helps him. Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice. I'm going to see how difficult it will be for my family to eliminate gluten for a few weeks, just to see if it makes any of us feel better, or if it stops some of the Aspergers traits altogether. I wonder if it will improve mine and my older daughter's ADD. Hers seems to be getting worse. It's gotten so bad in the last few months that I now can no longer allow her to cook unless someone is standing over her because she is burning everything. She just randomly gets up and walks out of the room. Yesterday she was cooking rice, but didn't tell us she was doing that, and then put on her coat and walked out to feed the chickens. About ten minutes later I smelled the burning rice. My younger DD ran and pulled it off the burner. I'd love to find a way to deal with the ADD without resorting to medications. It's frustrating to say the least.
Thank you all for keeping Sean in your prayers. It means a lot. He plans to take this information to his doctor so that he can ask more detailed and knowledgeable questions. He goes in the 2nd, and I told him to let me know what the doctor says. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go well.
